


Teen Wolf, Season 3, Episode 5, Frayed

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s03e05 Frayed, Meta, Nonfiction, Season/Series 03, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 04:14:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16318970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and rest of the series. Complete.





	Teen Wolf, Season 3, Episode 5, Frayed

This episode has so many flashbacks I’m not sure who’s narrating what.

Open to a bus ride. Stiles, Scott, Boyd, Isaac, and Ethan are all on it.

Isaac and Boyd are sitting together, and Isaac is trying to convince Boyd to stop thinking about Derek’s supposed death.

Ethan is sitting with Danny. He constantly checks his phone, and when Danny expresses concern, he turns on the eye-flirting magic.

At the back of the bus, Scott and Stiles are studying vocab, and revealing he’s bleeding, Scott has a line about Derek supposedly being dead.

Meanwhile, Allison and Lydia are following the bus in a car.

There’s a flashback of Scott confronting Allison with an arrow he found near where Isaac corralled Boyd and Cora into the school. He makes it clear he doesn’t want her putting herself in danger, and she makes clear both her confidence in being able to take care of herself and the fact she’s going to do what she thinks is right regardless of his opinion.

After some consensual physical sparring, he pins her against the door by her wrist. Letting her go, he insists he’s not sure any of them can properly deal with the alphas.

Then, in the elevator, he runs into Deucalion.

The next scene has him bursting into Derek’s loft. Derek, Peter, Boyd, and Cora are gathered around a table. Derek reveals they know Deucalion is living in the Argent’s apartment complex. Peter says they’re going after the alphas tomorrow, and Derek declares Scott is going to help.

This scene might have happened, but Derek insisting Scott help didn’t.

Then, there’s a scene of everyone doing battle.

Back on the bus, Coach deserves to be smacked for picking on a carsick kid named Jared.

Stiles is increasingly worried about Scott’s non-healing wound, and they talk about the fact Boyd, Isaac, and Ethan might decide to get in a fight on the bus.

I understand Scott’s not caring about her is part of the reason Isaac, Boyd, Derek, and Stiles are never shown mourning over Erica and almost never even mentioning her, and I wish so much of the show wasn’t narrated by him and Chris. Everyone on TW has their own motivations and stories, but because of narrative bias, the ones the audience care about are sometimes largely ignored.

There’s another flashback to the loft.

Scott protests the fact the default plan is always murder, because, stripping a way a person’s bodily autonomy in order to poison a cancer patient absolutely wouldn’t have resulted in said cancer patient’s death. I still waver on whether Gerard really died in 212 or not, but there was a good chance that would have been the outcome.

He and Deaton knew Gerard wouldn’t kill himself if bitten. They couldn’t be sure Chris and/or Allison would insist on killing him if he was bitten. And so, they deliberately poisoned him. Maybe, Deaton said something about how the mountain ash would just counter the bite’s effect, but Scott isn’t so naive he didn’t think death might not be a possibility.

And again, this being fictional, I’d’ve been fine with them giving Gerard sugar pills or even some actual human poison, but what was done to Derek was despicable.

Making fun of him, Peter nevertheless says he agrees in this instance. Cora questions why they even need Scott, and Derek reminds her Scott helped save her life.

This is kind of true. Scott was guilted into helping break into the vault, and it’s still not clear whether Allison would have broken the seal if Scott wasn’t there. He did bring in Chris, but aside from the stupidity of not knocking the betas out, there’s a possibility she and Boyd would have just run around the woods all night without managing to hurt anyone.

They plan to go after Deucalion when he’s alone, and Peter voices his concern this could backfire. However, he and Scott are outnumbered.

In the car, Allison is posing instead of paying attention to the road. Reading a science book, Lydia points out they’re running low on gas. Allison mentions Aiden, and Lydia realises Allison is trying to keep her away from him. She insists there’s nothing going on.

I’d much prefer it if, after all the grossness that went on between regards boys in the first season and the strained nature of their friendship in season 2, these two decided to have a mature, honest friendship. Instead of Allison trying to keep her supposedly human friend away from a werewolf, it’d be cool if Allison was like, ‘Aiden might have helped kill Erica, I don’t like or trust him, and I don’t approve of you being with him. However, as your friend, I will stay out of it unless he hurts you, in which case, my arrows going to a werewolf will actually be deserved this time.’

Then, instead of Lydia lying here, she could just insist on changing the subject.

Since this could have happened due it being clear there's an unreliable narrator with issues with both his ex-girlfriend and her best friend, I’m going with it did.

There’s yet another flashback, and it’s not clear if this is happening before or after Lydia found out about Aiden being part of the alpha pack. She and he are making out, and she interrupts the session to complain about his hand placement.

Even though Aiden is a sadistic, largely amoral individual, here his reaction is to reply in bewilderment his hands are on her waist. He’s confused about why this is a problem, but he doesn’t show any aggression or imply it shouldn’t be a problem for her. So, good on him for not extending his amoral sadism to his sexuality.

Lydia makes it clear she wants his hands to be somewhere more exciting than her waist. Picking her up and putting his hands under her bottom, he asks if this is better.

People of any gender being sexually aggressive isn’t bad, provided they aren’t unpleasant about it and immediately stop if they start to cause discomfort. I have no problem with Lydia wanting Aiden to go further and expressing this desire, but I do have a problem with the way she did it. She made him feel as if he were doing something wrong. Though he didn’t seem to feel pressured, he could have been.

Back in the present, Allison is still being a terrible driver. Thankfully, she doesn’t run into the stopped cars in front of her.

On the bus, Isaac realises Boyd is preparing to attack Ethan.

Scott notices, too.

Back in the elevator, Deucalion says he isn’t going to fight Scott right now. They have back-and-forth, the elevator stops, Scott gets out, and Deucalion asks the people who have entered if they can press a button for him.

I’m sincerely curious as to whether Deucalion can read Braille or not. To my knowledge, due to American laws regarding reasonable accommodation for disabled individuals, the complex would be required to have Braille in the elevator. At the hospital, he had Scott push the button as a part of his helpless blind act. Here, unless he’s just trying to irritate Scott, he has no need to pretend.

There are more scenes of the battle. Derek and Ennis fall.

I read a theory about how Scott could have killed Ennis here. I’m don’t personally believe it, but it is an alternative to the true alpha plotline.

Whether Ennis died here or not, things don’t add up in this scene.

No one goes down to check on Derek. Apparently, they don’t even just take a minute or two to see if they can hear his heartbeat/breathing. I can buy Scott and maybe Allison wouldn’t check on him, and maybe, the alphas were too busy with Ennis to care at the moment, but Isaac, Boyd, Cora, and Peter, if he were around, wouldn’t have just left his body.

And if his body disappeared, they might believe he was dead with his corpse stolen, but I doubt Isaac and Boyd would be going on a track meet instead of trying to retrieve said corpse.

Later, in present time, Cora is on the stairs. Peter appears. “It’s just me, your uncle. Uncle Peter.”

“Uncle Peter who killed sister Laura,” Cora retorts.

They have a conversation where it’s revealed Cora is seventeen, the fire happened when she was eleven, and neither she nor Peter trusts one another. I actually like this conversation, but it should have been had several episodes ago. It feels wildly out of place here.

Maybe, it did happen several episodes ago. It’d make more sense than the fact they’ve now decided maybe they should see if his nephew and her brother is actually dead.

On the bus, weak and experiencing blurry vision, Scott makes his way to Boyd.

There’s a flashback of expressing his doubts to Deaton, and Deaton gives him a pep talk about being a leader.

Grabbing Boyd’s wrist, he promises to let go if Boyd explains what the brilliant plan is here. He points out killing Ethan in the middle of the bus is a terrible idea.

Credit where it’s due, he makes a good point, but Boyd doesn’t care.

Isaac notices Scott’s wound, and Scott reassures him. He begs Boyd to give him a little time to come up with a workable idea. Since Boyd has obviously not heard about how Scott’s last idea to get one-half of an evil supernatural duo comprised of identical twins _suspended_ only worked, because, they have an idiot newbie teacher, he finally calms down and agrees.

I don’t believe that really happened, but this isn’t going to stop me from being sarcastic over it.

Most likely, it was agreed Aiden would stay with the others, and Ethan would go on the trip in order to keep getting closer to Danny.

Scott goes back to his seat, and Stiles points out Ethan keeps checking his phone. Neither is happy he’s sitting with Danny.

Texting Danny, Stiles pesters him to find out why Ethan keeps checking his phone. Instead of doing the obvious thing of turning off his phone or muting the ringer, Danny finally gives in and asks Ethan if everything is okay.

Ethan looks back, and both Scott and Stiles quickly duck down. Stiles himself acknowledges how unsubtle they just were. Heh.

Danny sends a text. Someone close to Ethan is sick. They might not make it through.

The duo realises it’s Ennis.

At the clinic, the alphas plus Morrell arrives, and Deaton refuses to help Ennis. Kali threatens Morrell, and neither Morrell nor Deaton are impressed. However, Morrell points out Deaton refusing to help means putting Scott and the others in danger, and he agrees to help.

On the bus, Coach still deserves a smack for refusing to Stiles’s reasonable arguments for stopping at a nearby store/rest stop.

Scott still can’t get in contact with Deaton, and Stiles reveals he knows Allison and Lydia have been following the bus the whole time. He calls Lydia. She briefly pretends to be at the movies, but at his making it clear he knows and ordering her to do speakerphone, she’s neither surprised nor offended by his knowledge and calling her out.

She complies.

He tells them about Scott not healing, and Allison insists Stiles do something.

Stiles tries again, and Coach’s response is to repeatedly blow his whistle.

Finally, Stiles sits down next to Jared, and asking how he’s doing, Stiles gives a slasher-Grinch like smile.

The next scene has everyone running from the bus. Coach tries to air it out, but oddly, he sprays the air freshener outside the window rather than inside the bus.

Allison, Lydia, and Stiles lead Scott into the boy’s bathroom, and it seems strange no one else goes in or even attempts to, but this could have realistically happened. Lydia suggests Scott is subconsciously refusing to heal due to guilt over Derek’s death.

No, it’s probably the wolfs bane.

Even if none of them hadn’t actually stuck around/taken the body, this wouldn’t be happening. Scott would never feel any true sadness or guilt over Derek dying.

They decide to try to stitch him up.

Meanwhile, Deaton is getting ready to help Ennis.

Back in the bathroom, Stiles and Lydia are put on get-the-bus-to-stay duty, and Allison gets ready to stitch up Scott. However, she can’t thread the needle.

Victoria appears, and she’s the manifestation of Allison’s still present internalised misogyny and fear of being helpless.

Channelling these traits rather letting them define her, realising she can apply the lessons her parents taught for what she believes rather than what they do and did, Allison gets the needle threaded, but when she finishes the stitches, Scott is still heavily unconscious.

He dreams of looking down at Derek and Ennis as Isaac drags him away from the edge.

Allison’s voice brings him back. When she helps him stand up and put a shirt on, this neatly transitions into a flashback of Scott putting on his jacket. Turning around, he’s startled by Isaac standing in the doorway.

Isaac asks where he’s going, and claiming he’s going to get some food, Scott quickly realises Isaac knows, but he tries to keep up the charade. He claims he’s getting Mexican.

“Dude, I love Mexican.”

When I first saw this, I didn’t know Posey had Mexican heritage. Even if I had, I likely wouldn’t realised this was likely a deliberate shiptease moment.

My reading was Scott knew Isaac liked Mexican food and was telling himself over and over again not to say it, only to, of course, end up saying it.

“Isaac. I can eat alone. It’s okay.”

Smiling slightly, Isaac softly but firmly declares, “You’re not going alone. Come on.”

They ride on the motorcycle, and when they get off, Scott insists they’re just going to try talking to Deucalion. Then, they establish they’re actually hungry.

Back in the present, Allison walks Scott out, and despite Lydia’s unhappiness, it’s decided she and Allison will be riding the bus with the others.

In the flashback, Deucalion announces Scott didn’t come alone, and Scott introduces Isaac.

“I’m not talking about Isaac.”

Derek and the others reveal themselves, and Derek insists only Deucalion will die. In response, Deucalion asks how a blind man finds his way into an abandoned place like this all by himself, and his pack is revealed.

One thing I like is: Deucalion makes comments like this, but everyone rightfully knows him being blind isn’t much, if any, of an advantage for them. If he had shown up alone, no one would have questioned how he managed to. Blind or not, he’s a fanatic, he’s strategic, he’s powerful, and he’s anything but helpless. He’s the type of person who makes his circumstances work for him.

Back to the present, upon being told what was happening to Scott, Isaac has taken to beating Ethan up. Using the voice he used last episode, Scott calls out Isaac’s name, and again, Isaac almost immediately comes out of his rage.

Outside the clinic, Peter explains to Cora it’s not just an ordinary animal clinic. She starts to go knock on the door, but grabbing her, he says other werewolves are inside.

Inside, Deaton informs Deucalion that Ennis will be fine.

I remember how MTV caused several angry rants to spring up online due to them airing a commercial announcing Ennis’s death before this scene happened.

Deucalion is incredibly creepy. Running his hand over Ennis’s chest, he kisses him on each cheek before killing him.

Outside, Peter and Cora hide when Kali and Aiden come out.

I believe this scene happened, but I’m not sure if Scott narrated it.

Scott doesn’t care enough about the alphas to showcase their humanity unless it’s necessary to the story he’s telling, but here, a moment of simple humanity is shown.

Aiden is gentle. He comfortingly tries to touch a genuinely distressed Kali. She starts physically raging, and as she roars, he holds her wrists.

When she’s done raging, she lets him pull her into a hug.

These two aren’t friends or family, and it’s ambiguous how much, if at all, either twin truly cares about Ennis’s death. Yet, Aiden recognised her pain, and he offered her physical comfort. He protected himself but also potentially her during her outburst. He kept her upright rather than letting her fall to the ground. He didn’t try to shush her.

And when enough anger was let out that all she could focus on was her grief, she accepted his offer of physical comfort.

Back in a flashback, the battle begins. Soon, the alphas have the upper hand, and Deucalion demands Derek kill Boyd or Kali will kill Cora. Of course, there’s a third option, and I’m willing to bet Derek was preparing himself for taking it.

However, flash/bang arrows announce Allison’s presence.

There’s a scene of Chris insisting he and Allison stay out of things, and the phrase “threading a needle” is used. She retorts, with all the family she’s lost, she’s could use a few friends.

Back in the battle, there’s a powerful, awesome shot of her as the huntress she’s becoming. Strong, protective, and using her skills to help and protect rather than terrorise.

Scott’s eyes briefly turn red, and Allison notices. Derek and Ennis fight, and Scott delivers the blow to make them fall.

On the bus, Lydia and Stiles are sitting together, and they talk about the possibility of the sacrifices being done in preparation for a battle.

Allison and Scott are sitting together, and she tells him if Derek really is dead, it’s not his fault. He thanks her for getting involved despite his protests. Looking closely at him, she explains, “Just looking at your eyes.”

At the clinic, Morrell covers Ennis up. Deaton says she might be in more trouble than she can extract herself from, and dialogue reveals their sibling status.

Over at the school, Jennifer gets in her car when a wounded Derek appears. After makes a bloody handprint on her window, he collapses.

If it were me, I’d probably stay in the car and call for medical assistance, but despite her fear, Jennifer gets out.

Fin.


End file.
